OCTOBER 2017 Dr. Colleen Murley, Principal · PDF filePage 6 SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL ......

UPCOMING DATES

Oct. 2 American Indian Study Night 5:30

Oct. 4 7th & 8th grade Math Counts in

Groton - afternoon

Oct. 9 NO SCHOOL

Oct. 9 PTA 6:30 pm

Oct. 13 8th grade band at Groton Marching

Competition

Oct. 16-20 SMS Book Fair

Oct. 17 Fall Orchestra Concert at the

ARCC 7 pm

Oct. 18 6th grade Math Counts in Warner -

afternoon

Oct. 19 Parent/Teacher Conferences

4-9 pm

Oct. 20 No School; Parent/Teacher

Conferences 8 am—1pm

Oct. 20 End of first quarter

Oct. 23 American Indian Study Night 5:30

Oct. 24 Fall Concert 7 pm at SMS

Oct. 26 Picture retake day

Oct. 27 SMS Social 7-9 pm

Dr. Colleen Murley, Principal Tina Board, Assistant Principal

OCTOBER 2017

SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL 1300 S. 3RD ST. ABERDEEN, SD 57401 PHONE 605-725-7900 FAX 605-725-7999

www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us

PARENT – TEACHER

CONFERENCES

Our Parent -Teacher conferences for fall will be held Thursday, October 19th from 4 - 9 p.m. and Friday, October 20th from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. There will be no school on Friday.

The following teachers will only be here for a portion of the confer-ence times:

Mrs. Neitzert will be here Friday 8-1 only.

Mrs. Maunu will be here Thurs-day 4-6 only

Mrs. Hill will be here Thursday 4-9 only.

SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL

WEEBLY

The 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Teams

have a Weebly site for weekly as-

signments. You can find this web-

site by going to the Simmons Mid-

dle School webpage. Each grade

level Weebly is found on the left

side...click on the site, find the

teacher and their assignments for

the week!

SMS SOCIAL

Our fall social will be Friday, October 27 from 7-9 pm. Students are invited to dress up in

costume but all school rules apply. Please make sure your rides are here by 9:00. Ad-

mission price is $3 with costume, $4 without costume. The PTA will once again be selling

pop and candy.

Student Senate is also selling Golden Eagle water bottles for $5. They will be on sale be-

fore school/during homeroom on selected dates or see Mrs. Wollman in room 206 after

school.

We also have SMS shirts coming soon too. They will be $10 and should be ready in time

for parent/teacher conferences.

DROP-OFF/PICK-UP

Remember to use extreme care when dropping off or picking

your child up from school. With our location right next to

Simmons Elementary, this is a very busy street. We want to

keep our students safe! Thank you.

GOLDEN EAGLE ACTIVITY PASSES

Student and Adult Activity passes are available for pur-chase at the District Service Center. Activity passes al-low entry into most school activities for no additional charge. Student passes can be purchased for $25, Adult passes are $60, Seniors passes (55 and older) are $15.

SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL WIKI

In an effort to help parents keep informed, we have created a wiki for SMS. The daily announcements will be posted as well as events and school forms that are used consist-ently. Please check us out at www.SimmonsMiddleSchool.wikispaces.com Team websites are also available on our wikispace.

DEPARTURE FROM SCHOOL

Students are dismissed at 3:10. Please be prompt when picking children up after school. We pro-vide no supervision after 3:25 pm.

ATTENDANCE

While class assignments can usually be made up, the experience of activities and discus-sion cannot. Please, for the benefit of your child, see that they are here and on time. Your child will be the one who benefits. Please telephone the school office at 725-7900 by 8:30 a.m. if your child will be ab-sent.

YOUTH POWER WEBSITE

The October calendar for Youth Power events is attached to this newsletter. You may also view it on our school website by accessing http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us then go to schools, Sim-mons Middle School, Activities, then click on Youth Power.

PICTURE RE-TAKE DAY

Lifetouch photographers will be

back to take pictures of those

students who missed our first pic-

ture day and for those who would

like their pictures re-taken. Our

re-take day is scheduled for

Thursday, October 26.

FUEL UP TO PLAY 60

Students interested in Fuel Up to Play 60 - now is your chance! Get in the

game of healthier eating and becoming more physically active. Join now! To

sign up follow these steps:

1. Go to https://www.fueluptoplay60.com

2. Click Join (blue button, upper right corner)

3. Select role (student)

4. Create username (something you will remember) and password

5. Parent permission is not needed if the student is over 13, got permission

last year, or until they reach 30,000 points.

If you have any questions stop by room A118 and talk to Ms. Edwards.


http://www.SimmonsMiddleSchoolwikispaces.com

http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us

http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us


ORCHESTRA FALL CONCERT (GRADES 6-12)

Tuesday, October 17, 7:00 pm

ARCC Theatre (Aberdeen Recreational and Cultural Center)

8th grade: arrive at 5:50 and warm up at 6:00



Concert dress: BLUE orchestra t-shirt and BLACK pants

Students are encouraged to stay for the entire concert (high school included).

If you have to leave early, please leave in between groups to eliminate distrac-

tion during performances. 6th grade will start the program at 7:00 followed

by 7th and 8th grade.

THINK PINK

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Youth Power is selling Breast

Cancer Awareness t-shirts. Shirts are WHITE in color with the logo in pink and black

and PINK in color with the logo in white and black. Contact Sue Gapp

([email protected]) or Kris McCafferty ([email protected]) by e-

mail. All proceeds go to Don and Carmen Meyer Cancer Center patients. The cloth-

ing will be sold at volleyball games and here at SMS.

Youth Power will have a store on the DSS Image and Apparel website (dssia.com).

More items will be available through the store. The store opens on Monday, Octo-

ber 2.

mailto:[email protected]



HEALTH NEWS

Influenza season will soon be here! The influenza vaccine helps protect children from the flu and its complications and decreases the spread of influenza in the community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all children (over the age of 6 months) and adults receive a flu vaccine each year. There will be a flu shot clinic (POD) held on October 24 from 2-6 pm at Central High School. This is for CHILDREN ONLY, age 6 months – 18 years. NO adults can be vaccinated. It will be FREE of charge. Child must have a consent form signed by a parent/guardian.

The consent form for the flu shot clinic at Central High School can be found on the Aberdeen School District web page. There is also one attached to this newsletter.

Other options for getting your family immunized include checking with your family physician, Horizon Health Care (725-3900) or various pharmacies in town.

SMS BOOK FAIR ! Come support our school while at the same time growing your home book

collection! SMS will host a Scholastic book fair October 16-20. On Tuesday, October 17, your child will visit the book fair with his or her Language Arts teacher. At this time, students may purchase books or make out a Wish List to bring home to you. That day, the book fair will be open all day until 4pm, so you can stop in with your child after school if you wish. We will have teacher wish lists posted for you as well, in case you would like to make a do-nation to your child’s classroom. The book fair will be located on the stage in the cafetorium.

On Wednesday, October 18, students are invited to visit the book fair during homeroom, lunch or after school until 4pm to purchase books. The first 100 students to purchase books from the fair will receive a prize!

On Thursday, October 19, students may visit the book fair during home-room and/or lunch. The book fair will also be open during parent teacher con-ferences on Thursday night and Friday morning.

If you have any questions, or would be willing to volunteer your time at the

book fair, please contact Christine Sieben [email protected]


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LIBRARY NEWS

The SMS Library Homepage has many great databases and web

links that students can use for homework and research projects.

To access the library webpage from home, go to the Aberdeen School

District website - http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us/ -

- Click on Schools on the top left side of the page

- Click on Simmons Middle School

- Click on Library in the blue box on the left side

You will need passwords to access the Databases--Online Resources

from home. The passwords for EBSCO are: User ID = sms Password =

eagles

All the other South Dakota State Library online resources, World Book

Encyclopedias and Mango Languages, have this bar code and pass-

word:

Bar code: 21583000074997 Password: simmons


SENSATIONS

Sensations is a performing improvi-

sational troupe made up of 8th grad-

ers. They act out short scenes to

reflect issues, concerns, and deci-

sions facing middle level and ele-

mentary students. They will per-

form throughout the year for clas-

ses at both SMS, elementary

schools and in the community as re-

quested.

Simmons Sensations students for the 2017-2018 school year. Front row: Megan

Long, Skylinn Williams, Madyson Fleckenstein; Middle row: Cain Ingram, Meghan

Mork; Back row: Jacob Merxbauer, Katelin Stoebner, Claire Bretsch

http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us/


CALLING ALL MOMS, DADS, PARENTS,

GRANDPARENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS

To encourage PTA membership, we will have a membership drive between now and October 22. All PTA members will be entered into a drawing of a dinner for four at Pizza Ranch. Membership forms can be picked up at the office anytime and there will be forms available during Thursday night con-ferences, October 21.

Congratulations to Madyson Fleckenstein and Cain Ingram! In Sep-tember they were honored with the Young Citizenship Award given by the Aberdeen Exchange Club. This award honors middle school students who demonstrate good citizenship, are honest, hard-working, helpful and fair. The Exchange Club seeks to recognize and encourage students to continue to be good citizens both at school and at home through attitude, service to others, leadership and sportsmanship. Each month two Simmons Middle School stu-dents will be chosen by their teachers.


REFLECTIONS

The arts—and the National PTA Reflections program—support student suc-

cess and serve as a valuable tool for building strong partnerships in your school community. Celebrate arts learning in your school community with Re-flections.

National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Annually, thousands of students will reflect on a common theme and create original works of art in the categories of dance choreogra-phy, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual

arts.

The theme for the 2017-2018 school year is Within Reach

To find out more information about PTA Reflections Program, go to http://www.pta.org/reflections. You can print out entry forms and find specific cate-gory rules at this website, http://www.southdakotapta.net/.

There are 3 levels in the Reflections Program: City, State and National. Your entry is judged at each level and decided if it will move on to the next level.

Show us your creativity and express to us what “Within Reach” means to you.

Entry forms can be picked up from the SMS office. Simmons Middle School

Entries must be turned in to the SMS Office by Monday, October 16th.

http://www.pta.org/reflections

http://www.pta.org/reflections

http://www.southdakotapta.net/


HOMEROOM POINTS

Our students collect receipts and labels throughout the year to earn points for

their homerooms. The PTA turns these in to the various companies/stores and in

return receives money back to use for the school. As you are shopping please re-

member to keep the following boxtops and store receipts and send them along to

school with your child.

General Mills products (Box Tops for Education proof of purchase)

Grocery receipts from Kessler’s and Ken’s dated after Sept. 1, 2017.

Each month the homerooms that turn in their points are entered into a drawing

for a treat from PTA.

PTA FUNDRAISER

Our fall fundraiser will be with Schwans at www.schwans-cares.com (We did this last year too.) Participants can order online or by phone at 1-855-870-7208. This includes existing Schwan's customers on a designated delivery route. Prod-ucts are delivered directly to your home at the time specified at checkout. The method of payment may be changed at the door – check, cash, EBT, credit or debit cards are accepted. If you are not home during the first 45 days of the campaign period, Schwans will leave the items in a protected freezer bag at no extra cost. The campaign period begins Thursday, October 12 and ends Novem-ber 22. Simmons Middle School PTA will receive 20% of your order during the campaign period. If you purchase an eGift card for use at schwans.com during the 45 day campaign, we'll receive 40% of your purchase!

PTA

PTA meets the second Monday of each month. The meetings begin at 6:30 pm in the SMS library. All parents are welcome to attend. Our next meeting will be Monday, October 9th in the library. If you would like to sign up for PTA there are registration forms available at the school office. The cost is $5.

CONCESSIONS

SMS PTA will be selling concessions at the 7th grade volleyball games held at Simmons Middle School on Tuesday Oct 3 at 4:00 pm, Tuesday, October 10 at 4:00 am, and Saturday October 21 at 11:00 am. We need your help! To volunteer call the school at 725-7900.


JOINTHEPTA AT SMSJoining the PTA does not require a lot of time. At the very least, pay the $5 yearly PTA membership.

If you want to get involved we’d love to have you – let us know what you’re interested in and we’ll find a way for you to get involved! You can volunteer daily, weekly, monthly or once a year.

If you do not have time to volunteer, that’s okay too, you can still support the PTA by joining and attending the book fairs, school and PTA sponsored events. All these efforts benefit our children’s educational experience.

Please consider joining the PTA!

WHAT IS THE PTA?

NOT ONLY JUST PARENTS AND TEACHERS $5 to join for the year

Parents, teachers,

grandparents, aunts,

uncles, community

members can all join

WHAT CAN I DO? Volunteer

Support your child

and school

Stay Informed

WHAT DOES THE PTA DO AT SMS? Concessions at

Socials

Refreshment for 8th

grade Recognition

event with DJ and a gift

Monthly treats for

homeroom who

collected most box

tops and

Kessler’s/Ken’s

receipts

Reflections awards

Meals for

teachers/staff on

Parent/Teacher

conference days

Money for Special

Requests from

teachers


HOLIDAY ASSISTANCE SIGN UP 2017

The Salvation Army is holding sign ups for the annual Holiday Assistance

program

The Salvation Army will be providing opportunities for families in need to

sign up for their annual Holiday Assistance program between the dates of

October 16-20, October 23-27, and October 30-November 3. Mondays

through Fridays the hours will be from 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM.

As in the past, the Salvation Army will be partnering with the Aberdeen

Mall in the effort. The Salvation Army will be providing Christmas meal bas-

kets and Angel Tree gifts for children 14 years of age and younger.

Income requirements must be met to be eligible for the program.

For additional information persons may contact Aleece Jung, Social Ser-

vices Director for the Salvation Army at 605-225-7410.

MUSIC NOTES

The 8th Grade Band will be marching in the

Groton Street Marching Competition on Fri-

day, October 13. A schedule of the day’s

events has not come out yet, but will be sent

home with band students when it becomes

available. Parents are encouraged to come to

Main Street Groton that day and cheer on

the band.

The 7th Grade Band will be performing on the

Fall Concert along with the 7th and 8th Grade

Vocal groups on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:00

PM in the SMS Main Gymnasium.

OCTOBER 2017 Dr. Colleen Murley, Principal · PDF filePage 6 SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL ......

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